Hands-free apparatus to apply a liner to an amputated appendage

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for use to apply a liner to an appendage of a user includes a base member and a plurality of arms mounted to the base member. Each arm can include a rotating member, such as a roller ball, coupled to a top end of the arm. The plurality of arms can extend from the base member in a generally upright position and can support the liner thereon in an inside out position so that the application of downward pressure by the appendage of the user within the plurality of arms permits the arms to flex outward, thereby allowing the plurality of arms and roller balls to slide the liner around the appendage of the user. The height of the apparatus can be adjustable by forming each arm in two or more pieces having a height-adjustable engagement between the pieces. Such a configuration further allows for compact disassembly.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/929,494, filed May 5, 2020, which claims the benefit ofpriority of U.S. provisional patent application No. 62/852,505, filedMay 24, 2019, the contents of each of which are herein incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to the use of liners onamputated appendages. More specifically, embodiments of the inventionare directed to apparatus to assist in the application of a liner to anamputated appendage.

2. Description of Prior Art and Related Information

The following background information may present examples of specificaspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts,or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educatethe reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to beconstrued as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof,to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.

Amputees begin their day by placing a liner or sleeve on their amputatedappendage before attaching a prosthetic leg or other member thereon. Itis a difficult and frustrating process for the amputee to place theliner on his/her amputated appendage without the use of a hand orappendage, or the assistance of another individual.

As such, there is a need in the industry for a hands-free apparatus thataddresses the limitations of conventional processes and devices, whichallows an amputee to easily and efficiently apply a liner to his/heramputated appendage without the assistance of others.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In certain embodiments, an apparatus for use to apply a liner to anappendage of a user is provided. The apparatus can include a basemember, a bracket adjustably mounted to the base member to a desiredheight position, and a plurality of arms pivotably mounted to thebracket, each arm in the plurality of arms comprising a roller ballcoupled to a top end of the arm, wherein the plurality of arms, in agenerally upright position, is configured to support the liner thereonin an inside out position so that the application of downward pressureby the appendage of the user within the plurality of arms permits theplurality of arms to pivot outward, thereby allowing the plurality ofarms and roller balls to slide the liner around the appendage of theuser.

In certain embodiments, the roller ball may be replaced with anoscillating member providing oscillating contact points coupled to a topend of each arm.

Embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus for applying aliner to an appendage of a user comprising a base member; a bracketmounted to a top side of the base member; a plurality of arms, eachhaving a lower end pivotably mounted to the bracket and an upper endhaving a rotating member attached thereto; an opening formed from theupper end of each of the plurality of arms; and an arm securing memberconfigured to retain the plurality of arms in an upright position.

Embodiments of the present invention further provide a apparatus forapplying a liner to an appendage of a user comprising a base member; anextension extending from a top side of the base; a bracket mounted atthe top side of the base member to the extension; a pad disposed on andextending upward from a top side of the bracket; a plurality of arms,each having a lower end pivotably mounted to the bracket and an upperend having a rotatable ball attached thereto; an opening formed from theupper end of each of the plurality of arms; and an elastic bandconfigured to retain the plurality of arms in an upright position andfurther permitting the plurality of arms to resiliently move, causingthe opening to expand in size when the user inserts their appendage intothe opening.

Embodiments of the present invention also provide a method for applyinga liner onto an appendage of a user comprising applying the liner,inside-out, over an opening and down sides of an apparatus, theapparatus comprising a base member, a bracket mounted to a top side ofthe base member, a plurality of arms, each having a lower end pivotablymounted to the bracket and an upper end having a rotating memberattached thereto, the opening formed from the upper end of each of theplurality of arms, and an arm securing member configured to retain theplurality of arms in an upright position; lowering the appendage ontothe liner at the opening covered by the liner, causing the arms toresiliently deform outward; and sliding the appendage into an interiorof the apparatus, causing the liner to slide along the rotating membersand be applied to the appendage of the user.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with reference to the followingdrawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an exampleand are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, inwhich like references may indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of a liner application apparatus, havinga liner disposed thereon ready to apply to the user, according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a side view of an arm member used in the linerapplication apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of the arm member of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 illustrates a top view of an arm member pivot bracket used in theliner application apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 9;

FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of a rotating member used in the linerapplication apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 illustrates a top view of a base member used in the linerapplication apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 9;

FIG. 7 illustrates a partially cut-away side view of the base member ofFIG. 6;

FIG. 8 illustrates a top view of a sleeve used in the liner applicationapparatus of FIGS. 1 and 9;

FIG. 9 illustrates a side view of a liner application apparatus, havinga liner disposed thereon ready to apply to the user, according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 illustrates a side view of an arm member used in the linerapplication apparatus of FIG. 9, with the rotating member partiallycut-away;

FIG. 11 illustrates a front view of the arm member of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary assembly of the arm and rotating memberof FIGS. 10 and 11 that are used with the liner application apparatus ofFIG. 9;

FIG. 13 illustrates a top view of the liner application apparatus ofFIG. 9;

FIG. 14 illustrates a first step to apply a liner to an appendage, wherea liner is placed over a liner application apparatus, such as theapparatus of FIGS. 1 and 9;

FIG. 15 illustrates a user moving his or her appendage into a spacebetween the rolling elements at the ends of the arms of the linerapplication apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 9;

FIG. 16 illustrates the user having his or her appendage fully insertedinto the liner application apparatus, thereby completing the applicationof the liner on the user's appendage;

FIG. 17 illustrates a perspective view of a liner application apparatusaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 illustrates a detailed perspective view of a top end of theliner application apparatus of FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 illustrates a bottom view of a base member of the linerapplication apparatus of FIG. 17;

FIG. 20 illustrates a perspective view of the base member of FIG. 19;

FIG. 21 illustrates a front view of a lower arm member of the linerapplication apparatus of FIG. 17;

FIG. 22 illustrates a perspective view of the lower arm member of FIG.21;

FIG. 23 illustrates a front view of an upper arm member of the linerapplication apparatus of FIG. 17;

FIG. 24 illustrates a perspective view of the upper arm member of FIG.23; and

FIG. 25 illustrates a side view of the upper arm member of FIG. 23.

Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are notnecessarily drawn to scale.

The invention and its various embodiments can now be better understoodby turning to the following detailed description wherein illustratedembodiments are described. It is to be expressly understood that theillustrated embodiments are set forth as examples and not by way oflimitations on the invention as ultimately defined in the claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS AND BEST MODE OFINVENTION

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of oneor more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singularforms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms aswell as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groupsthereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by onehaving ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Itwill be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonlyused dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and thepresent disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number oftechniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefitand each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in somecases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sakeof clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possiblecombination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion.Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with theunderstanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope ofthe invention and the claims.

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, toone skilled in the art that the present invention may be practicedwithout these specific details.

The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of theinvention and is not intended to limit the invention to the specificembodiments illustrated by the figures or description below.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, many carefulconsiderations and compromises typically must be made when designing forthe optimal configuration of a commercial implementation of any device,and in particular, the embodiments of the present invention. Acommercial implementation in accordance with the spirit and teachings ofthe present invention may be configured according to the needs of theparticular application, whereby any aspect(s), feature(s), function(s),result(s), component(s), approach(es), or step(s) of the teachingsrelated to any described embodiment of the present invention may besuitably omitted, included, adapted, mixed and matched, or improvedand/or optimized by those skilled in the art, using their average skillsand known techniques, to achieve the desired implementation thataddresses the needs of the particular application.

Broadly, embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus foruse to apply a liner to an appendage of a user includes a base memberand a plurality of arms pivotably mounted to the base member. Each armcan include a rotating member, such as a roller ball, coupled to a topend of the arm. The plurality of arms can extend from the base member ina generally upright position and can support the liner thereon in aninside out position so that the application of downward pressure by theappendage of the user within the plurality of arms permits the arms topivot outward, thereby allowing the plurality of arms and roller ballsto slide the liner around the appendage of the user. The height of theapparatus can be adjustable by forming each arm in two or more pieceshaving an adjustable engagement between the pieces. Such a configurationfurther allows for compact disassembly, making the device useful fortravel, for example.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 8, a liner application device 10, alsoreferred to simply as device 10, can include a base member 26 that maybe supported by a surface. The base may include an uprising member, suchas extension 24. In some embodiments, the extension 24 may have threads52 that thread into a central opening 54 in the base member 26. Thelength of the extension 24 may vary depending on the specificapplication.

An arm pivot bracket 18, also simply referred to as bracket 18, may besupported by the base member 26. In some embodiments, the bracket 18 maybe supported by the extension 24, as shown. The bracket 18 may include aplurality of sides 40 having a cutout to provide a connection location42 for each of the arms 12, as described below. In some embodiments, thebracket 18 may include one or more set screws 44 that may be used toaffix the bracket 18 as a desired height along the extension 24. Inother embodiments, the open center 46 of the bracket 18 may includefemale threads 48 that may engage with threads on the extension 24. Inthis embodiment, the set screws 44 may not be needed or may be used torestrict inadvertent rotation (and, therefore, inadvertent heightadjustment) of the bracket 18 about the extension 24.

Typically, one arm 12 may pivotably attach to and extend upward fromeach of the connection locations 42 of the bracket 18. From three to tenarms, typically about 6 arms, may extend from the bracket 18. Each arm12 can include a pivot end 30 with an opening 32 to form the pivotingattachment with the bracket 18. Of course, other pivoting attachmentmechanisms may be used within the scope of the present invention, suchas a pin, a flexible member, or the like.

A distal end 38 of the arms 12, opposite the pivot end 30, can include arotating member, such as a rotating ball 14 mounted thereupon. As shownin FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, each arm 12 can include arm extensions 34 withinward facing tabs 36 that can fit into openings 50 in the balls 14,thereby rotationally supporting the balls 14 at the end of each of thearms 12.

A pad 20 may be disposed on and extend upward from the bracket 18,surrounding any portion of the extension 24 that extends above a topportion of the bracket 18. The pad 20 may be an elongated tubular memberhaving an inner opening 56 that may be fit onto the extension 24. Thepad 20 may provide a terminus to the inside of the opening 16 so that auser, inserting their appendage into the device 10, does not directlycontact the extension 24 at the bottom of the opening 16. Further, thepad 20 can provide a minimal closure of the pivoting arms 12, where awider pad 20 may form an opening 16 that is wider than that formed witha more narrow pad 20.

An elastic member 22 may be disposed about the arms 12 near a pivot end30 thereof. The elastic member 22 may resiliently hold the armstogether, minimizing the size of the opening 16. When the user insertstheir appendage 66 into the device 10, as shown in FIGS. 14 through 16,the elastic member 22 can resiliently deform to permit the opening 16 toexpand as the user's appendage is moved to a fully inserted position,causing the liner 28, pre-positioned, inside-out, to an exterior of thedevice 10, to be applied to the appendage in a hands-free manner. Whilethe Figures show the elastic member 22 disposed adjacent the pivot end30, in some embodiments, the elastic member 22 may be disposed at anyposition along a length of the arms 12. In some embodiments, an elasticsleeve (not shown) may extend along all or a portion of the arms 12. Inany embodiment, the elastic member 22 may be configured to permit thearms to elastically deform outward as the user inserts his or herappendage into the opening 16 of the device 10.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 through 12, in some embodiments, a device 10Acan include a ball 14A attached to each arm 12A in an alternate manner.In this embodiment, instead of the arm extensions 34 and tabs 36 fittinginto opposite sides of the ball 14 as described above, the ball arms 12Amay include a hole 58 at its attachment end 38A, where the ball 14A isformed as two halves, separated by a central connector 62 that extendsthrough the hole 58. This permits the ball 14A to rotate along itscentral connector 62 in the hole 58.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 12, the balls 14A may be formed intwo halves, one with the central connector 62 and the other with a pin60 that connects with the central connector 62. Various connectionmechanisms may be employed within the scope of the present invention,such as a press fit, a pin and tab, a twist clock, an expended endportion (as shown in FIG. 12), or the like.

The operation of the device of FIG. 9 is the same as that of the deviceof FIG. 1, where the difference is simply in how the balls 14, 14A aremounted to their respective arms 12, 12A. Of course, other ball mountmethods may be used within the scope of the present invention. Further,while rotating balls are described above, in some embodiments, the endsof the arms 12, 12A may simply terminate with a rounded element that maynot rotate, provided that a user may fit their appendage into theopening 16 formed by the arm ends and further provided that the liner 28may slide along the ends of the arms as the user fully inserts theirappendage into the device to apply the liner 28 thereupon.

The components may be made from conventional materials as known in theart. In some embodiments, the balls 14, 14A may be formed from amaterial that permits the liner 28 to easily slide therealong, such asnylon, plastic or metal. The arms 12, 12A may be formed from arelatively rigid material, such as plastic, metal or the like. In someembodiments, the components may be 3D-printed. In some embodiments, thearms 12, 12A may be formed from a resiliently flexible material to aidin expanding the opening 16 as the user inserts their appendage. Theelastic band 22 may be formed from rubber, fabric, or any similarlyresiliently deformable material. The components may be designed to allowthe device to be readily assembled or disassembled for ease of transportor storage.

The device 10, 10A may be formed in various sized, depending on theparticular user needs. Typically, the opening 16 may be from about 2.5to about 5 inches, often about 3.5 inches when the arms 12, 12A are inthe non-pivoted position, held in place with the elastic band 22. Thedistance from the opening 16 to the bracket 18 may also vary and maytypically be from about 12 to about 30 inches, typically about 18inches. The base member 26 may have a size sufficient to support thedevice 10, 10A on a surface. For example, the base member 26 may havedimensions from about 6 to about 12 inches. In some embodiments, thebase member 26 may include attachment devices to affix the base member26 to a surface.

Referring now to FIGS. 17 through 25, a liner application device 70 isillustrated where each arm of a plurality of arms are formed from anupper arm member 74 and a lower arm member 78 linearly connectedtogether. The lower arm member 78 can attach, at a lower end thereof, toa base member 80 with a connection mechanism, such as an attachment pin84. Other connection mechanisms, such as bolts, screws, ties, or theline, may be used to connect the lower arm member 78 to the base member80. Typically, the plurality of arms can include from about 4 to about10 arms, typically from 5 to 8 arms. In the Example of FIGS. 17 and 18,an exemplary embodiment is shown where six arms extend from the basemember 80.

The base member 80 may include a plurality of feet 82 disposed on abottom side thereof. The feet 82 may be formed from a non-slip material,such as rubber, for example, to prevent slippage of the base 80 along asupport surface (such as a floor or table, for example) during use ofthe liner application device 70.

Rollers 72 can be disposed on a distal end 74B (distal relative to thebase member 80) of the upper arm member 74. Typically, one roller 72 canbe disposed on each side of each upper arm member 74 so that each upperarm member 74 has two rollers 72. The rollers may rotate on an axis,defined by a wheel pin 86, that is generally parallel to a front face ofthe upper arm member 74. Each roller 72 can extend beyond the distal end74B of the upper arm member 74.

As shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, the base member 80 can include recessedregions 80A for receiving the lower arm members 78 therein. A mountinghole 80D may be formed in a recessed base 80B of each recessed region80A. The mounting hole 80D can receive the connecting pin 84 therein tosecure the lower arm members 78 to each respective recessed region 80A.The bottom side of the base member 80 can include a plurality of holes80E for mounting the feet 82.

Referring now to FIGS. 21 and 22, the lower arm members 78 can include amounting hole 78C, on its lower end, for mounting the lower arm members78 to the base member 80. The upper end of the lower arm member 78 caninclude at least two holes 78A for attaching the lower arm member 78 tothe upper arm member 74, as discussed below. In some embodiments, anupper portion, such as the upper 30 to 60 percent of the lower armmember 78, can have a bevel 78B formed on outer sides corners thereof.Further, the upper end of the lower arm member 78 can be rounded, wherethere are no 90 degree corners present on the upper end of the lower armmember 78. Such a design can be useful so that when a user is applying aliner to the liner application device 70, there are no outer cornerspresent for the liner to get caught thereon. To further ensure ano-catch outer surface, the pins 75 (see FIG. 17) that connect the upperarm members 74 to the lower arm members 78 can be formed as button headcap screws, resulting in a rounded outer surface.

Referring also to FIGS. 23 through 25, the upper arm member 74 caninclude a recess 74C formed on opposite sides of the distal end 74Bthereof. The recess 74C can house at least a portion of the rollers 72so that the rollers 72 to not interfere with adjacent rollers 72 onadjacent arms. Typically, the recess 74C may have a depth of about 40 toabout 60 percent of the width of the rollers 72. A hole 74E may beformed through the upper arm member 74 at its distal end 74B. The hole74E may extend generally parallel to the front face of the upper armmember 74. The hole 74E can retain the wheel pin 86 as best seen in FIG.18.

The upper arm member 74 can include a plurality of holes 74D extendingthrough the upper arm member 74 at multiple locations along a lengththereof. Typically, the plurality of holes 74D can extend from adjacenta lower end of the upper arm member 74 toward its distal end 74B,typically ending from about 10 percent to about 40 percent of the lengthof the upper arm member 74 from the distal end 74B. The plurality ofholes 74D may be equally spaced apart and may be spaced so that theholes 78A in the lower arm member 78 can align with the holes 74D in theupper arm member 74. The number of holes 74D in the upper arm member 74can permit at least two different hole alignments (between holes 78A andholes 74D) so that the overall length of the arms, when assembledtogether as shown in FIG. 17, can be formed in at least two differentlengths. A bevel may be formed about a front edge of the upper armmember 74 similar to the bevel 78B of the lower arm member 78.

As an example, the upper arm member 74 may be from about 10 to about 12inches in length, with seven holes 74D, beginning about 0.5 inch fromthe lower end of the upper arm member 74, the holes 74D being equallyspaced apart about 1.5 inches. The lower arm member 78 may be from about10 to about 14 inches in length, with the two holes 78A spaced apart byabout 3 inches. Thus, the upper arm member 74 can be attached to thelower arm member 78 in six different positions for six different overallarm lengths.

The arm members 74, 78 may be formed from various materials. Forexample, the arms members 74, 78 may be formed from acetal having athickness from about 0.25 to about 0.5 inches. Such a material maypermit the arms to stand upright from the base member 80, as shown inFIG. 17, but may permit the arms to flex outward when the user placestheir appendage into the liner application device 70. Of course, othermaterials can be used, depending on the particular application.

The base member 80 may be formed with a diameter from about 3 inches toabout 8 inches, typically from about 4 inches to about 6 inches. Ofcourse, the diameter may be selected so that the liner can be disposed,inside-out, on the device and applied to the user's appendageautomatically as the user inserts their appendage into the device andmoves toward the base member.

All the features disclosed in this specification, including anyaccompanying abstract and drawings, may be replaced by alternativefeatures serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unlessexpressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise,each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series ofequivalent or similar features.

Claim elements and steps herein may have been numbered and/or letteredsolely as an aid in readability and understanding. Any such numberingand lettering in itself is not intended to and should not be taken toindicate the ordering of elements and/or steps in the claims.

Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinaryskill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. Therefore, it must be understood that the illustratedembodiments have been set forth only for the purposes of examples andthat they should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined bythe following claims. For example, notwithstanding the fact that theelements of a claim are set forth below in a certain combination, itmust be expressly understood that the invention includes othercombinations of fewer, more or different ones of the disclosed elements.

The definitions of the words or elements of the following claims are,therefore, defined in this specification to not only include thecombination of elements which are literally set forth. In this sense itis therefore contemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or moreelements may be made for any one of the elements in the claims below orthat a single element may be substituted for two or more elements in aclaim. Although elements may be described above as acting in certaincombinations and even initially claimed as such, it is to be expresslyunderstood that one or more elements from a claimed combination can insome cases be excised from the combination and that the claimedcombination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of asubcombination.

Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by aperson with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, areexpressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of theclaims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one withordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of thedefined elements.

The claims are thus to be understood to include what is specificallyillustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, whatcan be obviously substituted and also what incorporates the essentialidea of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for applying a liner to an appendageof a user, comprising: a base member; a plurality of arms, each having alower end mounted to the base member and an upper end having a rotatingmember attached thereto; and an opening defined by the upper end of eachof the plurality of arms; wherein the plurality of arms are sized andconfigured to support the liner thereon in an inside-out position sothat the application of downward pressure by the appendage of the userwithin the opening permits the plurality of arms and the rotatingmembers to slide the liner around the appendage of the user.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the rotating member is a wheel with onewheel disposed on each side of the upper end of each of the plurality ofarms.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a through hole inthe upper end of each of the plurality of arms, the through holereceiving a connector of each wheel, the connector defining an axis ofrotation for each wheel.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each ofthe plurality of arms is formed from an upper arm member and a lower armmember attached together in a linear arrangement.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 4, wherein the upper arm member includes a recess on oppositesides thereof for positioning of at least a portion of the rotatingmember therein.
 6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the upper armmember includes a plurality of upper arm holes formed therethrough. 7.The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the lower arm member includes at leasttwo lower arm holes formed in an upper portion thereof, wherein aspacing between the lower arm holes corresponds to a spacing between twoof the upper arm holes.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein outer edgesof at least a portion of the upper arm member and the lower arm memberare beveled.
 9. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the base includes aplurality of base recesses for receiving each respective one of theplurality of arms.
 10. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein connecting pinsare used to connect the upper arm member to the lower arm member, theconnecting pins having a rounded exposed outer surface.
 11. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the base member includes a plurality offeet disposed on a bottom side thereof.
 12. An apparatus for applying aliner to an appendage of a user, comprising: a base member; a pluralityof arms, each of the plurality of arms having an upper arm memberattached to a lower arm member, wherein a lower end of the lower armmember is mounted to the base member and a distal end, relative to thebase member, of the upper arm member has a rotating member attachedthereto; and an opening defined by the distal end of each of the upperarm members; wherein the plurality of arms are sized and configured tosupport the liner thereon in an inside-out position so that theapplication of downward pressure by the appendage of the user within theopening permits the plurality of arms and the rotating members to slidethe liner around the appendage of the user.
 13. The apparatus of claim12, wherein the upper arm member are lower arm member are linearlyconnected together.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the upper armmember includes a recess on opposite sides thereof for positioning of atleast a portion of the rotating member therein.
 15. The apparatus ofclaim 14, further comprising a through hole in the distal end of each ofthe upper arm members, the through hole receiving a connector of eachrotating member, the connector defining an axis of rotation for eachrotating member, wherein the rotating member is two wheels with onewheel disposed on each side of the distal end of each of the upper armmembers.
 16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein: the upper arm memberinclude a plurality of upper arm holes formed therethrough; and thelower arm member includes at least two lower arm holes formed in anupper portion thereof, wherein a spacing between the lower arm holescorresponds to a spacing between two of the upper arm holes.
 17. Theapparatus of claim 12, wherein outer edges of at least a portion of theupper arm member and the lower arm member are beveled.
 18. The apparatusof claim 12, wherein the base member includes a plurality of baserecesses for receiving each respective one of the plurality of arms. 19.A method for applying a liner onto an appendage of a user, comprising:applying the liner, inside-out, over an opening and down sides of anapparatus, the apparatus comprising a base member; a plurality of arms,each of the plurality of arms having an upper arm member attached to alower arm member, wherein a lower end of the lower arm member is mountedto the base member and a distal end, relative to the base member, of theupper arm member has a rotating member attached thereto; and an openingdefined by the distal end of each of the upper arm members, wherein theplurality of arms are sized and configured to support the liner thereonin an inside-out position so that the application of downward pressureby the appendage of the user within the opening permits the plurality ofarms and the rotating members to slide the liner around the appendage ofthe user; lowering the appendage onto the liner at the opening coveredby the liner; and sliding the appendage into an interior of theapparatus, causing the liner to slide along the rotating members and beapplied to the appendage of the user.
 20. The method of claim 19,adjusting a height of the device by attaching the upper arm member tothe lower arm member using different ones of the upper arm holes.